


Untitled

by SophiaDreith



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 02:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13044207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiaDreith/pseuds/SophiaDreith
Summary: alternate ending to The Last Jedi





	Untitled

She wasn’t looking at him.

No, her attention was once more on the view screen, watching as the transport ships were destroyed one by one. The room burned around them and Kylo stood behind her in the midst of their shared carnage, but she wasn’t looking at  _ him. _ It itched at him—that everything around them could turn to dust and ash and he wouldn’t care because she was there. 

But Rey . . . She was not consumed as Kylo was. Her focus has turned to people  _ other _ than Kylo. He found it hard to fathom such a thing when the smell of death was thick in the air and clung to his lungs in a way that was nearly suffocating. He could think of nothing and no one but her. 

His eyes moved around the burning theater, glancing over the great expanse before resting on the throne. Snoke’s body still lay over it, but that throne—that seat of power. It was his now. Kylo’s eyes moved back to Rey.  _ Theirs. _

_ It should be her choice. _

It should, he allowed. She should join with him of her own volition or it would mean nothing. But her riveted eyes . . . her shredded and worried thoughts. Kylo was not on her mind now—her attention and devotion lay elsewhere. She thought their shared battle meant that  _ he _ was with her, as though there could be no other way for them but her way. 

It had only been a few seconds that had passed since she’d turned her attention from him, but it felt like an eternity before Rey whirled back around to face him. 

“We need to stop them!” she called, beginning to move towards the doors. By now other guards had closed off the entrance and she called her saber from his hand to her own. For now, he said nothing about his thoughts—his intent.

Garrisons of stormtroopers stood in his way, lead by the gleaming armor of Captain Phasma. He could hear her thoughts churning inside her mind as she took in the dead Leader Snoke, the scavenger and . . . Kylo Ren. 

He held out his hand and the deadly red cross saber flew into his outstretched fingers. Rey charged her saber, a single pale blue glow amongst the red, and she looked towards him, waiting for him to do the same. It wasn’t needed, however, as Phasma hesitated only a moment before moving aside and ordering her troops to allow them through. 

Rey mentally stumbled over the movie, unsure what to do next. “They . . .” she began in confusion, watching as the troopers lined up on either side of the hallway.

Kylo walked towards her, longing to reach out to take her hand, but he wouldn’t do that here. “The Supreme Leader is dead. They don’t have a new leader yet,” he answered softly.

Rey looked back at Snoke once before giving a short nod and abruptly taking off. He watched, shoving down his irritation as she hurried down the corridor towards the lift without a backward glance. Kylo was about to follow when a great explosion rocked the ship. The ground shook violently, and his ears were filled with the sound of dozens of armored soldiers hitting the floor. The shaking continued for minutes at a time, and it felt as if the ship were coming apart. 

Even as everything continued to tremble, Kylo was able to get to his feet. The main power systems seemed to be offline and only the emergency lights remained operational. 

“Ben!” he heard and his eyes immediately found her. She was also trying to get to her feet, but he could see the difficulty for her as blood dripped into her eye from a new cut on her forehead.

Kylo gnashed his teeth as he turned to Phasma. “What is happening?”

The worst of the shaking had subsided and the chrome trooper was pulling herself up. “Sir . . . One of the resistance ships—it—it crashed into the Supremacy . . . at light speed.”

The Knight reared back, his fists clenching as spoke gain. “The bridge?”

She was silent for a few seconds as she accessed the necessary information. “Undamaged, but main controls are currently offline.”

The ship could possibly still be salvaged, but it was not the place to take control—not anymore. His eyes moved to the lift, but it would hardly be safe to board it now.

“Ben . . .” Rey had come up behind him. “We need to go,” she said as she came around.

Kylo was still facing Phasma and he felt his face flatten, before he destroyed any doubts he had about his plans.

He turned to look at her. “Rey, go back to Snoke’s chambers. In the back is an evac tube connected to a jump ship. Get on board and wait for me there.”

She looked from Kylo to Phasma and back again. “I’m staying with you,” she said firmly, and he knew that she didn’t quite trust him— _ with good reason, _ he thought. There were things that needed to happen, but she wouldn’t accept that . . . not yet, anyway.

Kylo longed to be honest with her, he wanted no secrets between them, but this bond of theirs . . . they perhaps knew one another better than anyone else, but it was still too new for either of their minds to truly adapt and accept another. Though it angered him, he would need to take advantage of her need to protect other people. 

“Do you want your friends to die?” he asked rather baldly.

As expected, she blanched back in horror. “Of course not!”

He pointed back towards the throne. “Then go and get the ship ready for departure. I’ll be there soon.” Kylo reached out and took her hand. He still wore his gloves, but it was enough for now.

Rey swallowed as she looked down at where their fingers were entwined before nodding. “Alright.”

She left and Kylo knew Phasma was watching the scavenger—gauging the truth of the situation, but he wouldn’t give the chrome trooper time to think it all through.

“Patch me through to the bridge,” he said, his tone allowing no argument.

Phasma pulled a comm unit from her arm and handed it over. 

“This is Kylo Ren,” he said.

There was static for a moment and then, “Ren!” called Hux’s rather flustered voice. “What is the the status to the Supreme Leader?”

Phasma’s helmet tilted as Kylo answered. “Snoke is dead. We are reconvening on the  _ Finalizer.” _

Silence greeted him for a second before Hux’s cracked voice responded. “I will not abandon the  _ Supremacy—” _

“Stay on your sinking ship, then,” he said before cutting off the connection and handing the comm back to the captain.

“Hux will be joining us on the  _ Finalizer,” _ he said knowingly and she nodded. “Get to the factory levels and send me a report on the damage. Find out how much of the ship is still operational.”

Phasma inclined her head once more. “Yes, sir.”

Kylo was about to turn around and leave when he caught a stray thought from the ‘trooper captain. 

He gritted his teeth, but spoke again. “Lock the traitor and his cohorts in the brig.”

Phasma’s helmet snapped up and he felt the stab of anger, but she nodded in obedience nonetheless. He made no further acknowledgments as he turned around and strode quickly back through Snoke’s throne room, and found Rey finishing up the launch sequence. She eyed him carefully as he sat down in the other seat beside her.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Insurance,” he said. “You don’t really think that the two of us plus couple dozen Resistance fighters can win against the First Order, do you?”

“The Force—”

“Doesn’t work the way you seem to think it does. It’s not some all-powerful fail-safe for when our backs are against the wall. You want to live? You want to save your friends? You do it yourself,” he said as he steered the ship away from the  _ Supremacy. _

They had to take it more slowly than he would have liked but the debris field from the attack was massive. The darkness of space was lit not only by the recurring electrical explosions but also the remnants of the light-speed trail from the long disintegrated resistance ship.

“Force . . .” he heard Rey murmur as they came about and looked over the wreckage. It was worse than he’d thought. One of the great wings had been sliced completely off from the main body and the wave of destruction left in the wake of the impact was such that Kylo mentally noted the need to bury this entire debacle. If upstart rebels got the idea that they could take out a ship as large and powerful as the  _ Supremacy _ with a single cruiser set at lightspeed, it would mean a new wave of attacks.

Kylo turned on the comm with the intent to communicate with the  _ Finalizer _ and initiate landing procedures, but his hand paused as the cockpit was instantly filled with pained cries and calls for help from the soldiers and officers trapped in various places aboard.

Any joy Rey felt that the Resistance had somehow been able to ‘best’ the First Order seemed to evaporate as desperate voices begged for someone—anyone—to come and save them. Those in the main section of the ship would have a better chance than those in the severed wing. Many of them would most likely perish as life support systems failed.

Kylo tuned the frequency to the  _ Finalizer’s _ channel and the cockpit lost much of the noise as he found the correct frequency.

“I’m coming aboard,” he said and that was enough.

“Landing bay four is ready to receive you, Lord Ren,” an officer responded and Kylo steered the ship to correct location.

He turned off the comm and Rey reached over and grabbed his arm, her small hand looking pale and delicate as it barely reached around the wide expanse of his bicep.

“We need to go to Crait! Why are we going to the  _ Finalizer?”  _ she asked and he sensed her anger, impatience, and mistrust.

He gave her a hard look. “If we go to the planet, we’ll be sitting ducks just like the rest of them.”

“Allies will come!” she said with a surety that would have made him laugh if it had been any other. For someone who had been abandoned time and again, she was astoundingly naive . . . but he found he didn’t dislike that about her. He needed her to hold on to the trust at least a bit longer.

“No they won’t. The Resistance has run out of money and allies. They have subsisted on the brief flicker of hope that the First Order could be bested. But even after Star Killer, they are still losing. No one will risk any more of their people.”

Rey stared at him for a long moment as he brought the ship in for a landing. He felt her eyes and her mind trying to pick him apart.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, no longer looking at him, but rather at the ship’s controls.

He would not lie to her. “I’m going to do one last kindness for you and then  _ we _ are leaving this system.”

Kylo hid nothing from her now. He allowed her to see their future. She would be stand beside him, always.

“Ben, don’t do this,” she said softly and he felt her hurt.

The ship trembled as it landed inside the star destroyer. He sat back and felt the stirrings of a plan to get him off the ship and then leave—go to the planet and save her friends.

“Don’t,” he said softly—tiredly. He was sick of fighting for every scrap of respect and power, sick of living in misery and loneliness.

She came out of her seat and to his side, crouching down so they were eye to eye. Her hand hesitated before she reached out and placed her fingers on his face, drawing his chin up and towards her. He met her eyes and he could see the moisture gathered there.

“It doesn’t have to be like that, Ben. You don’t have to be alone anymore. Please don’t go there.”

He stared at her, one of his gloves sliding off before he covered her hand with his own. “Why do you think it has to be one way or the other. Light or darkness?” And he genuinely wanted to know . . . Wanted to know why she would choose her own loneliness rather than give in and be with him.

“The path to the darkside is the path of suffering and pain,” she said and he felt her confidence in that. 

He snorted. “As opposed to the light . . . the shining light of  _ Luke Skywalker _ and his desire to  _ murder _ me.” Kylo let that sink in for a moment before continuing. “It’s time to forget all that, Rey. Let the past die. No more light or dark. No more Jedi or Sith. It can just be us.”

Her brow furrowed. “With the First Order.”

Kylo shook his head. “Snoke is dead, Rey. I killed him. There is no more First Order.”

She blinked at him and tried to pull her hand away but he held on, his large hand engulfing hers.

“You . . . you’re planning to take over—take over it all,” she said as her jaw fell open.

“Yes,” he said simply. “And you’re going to be right there by my side.”

Now Rey was shaking her head in denial. “No, Ben—”

His lips thinned. “You’re clinging to this idea that you can be a hero to the Resistance, but the Resistance doesn’t need any more heroes. They’ve squandered all that they had. There are only so many people willing to die for their beliefs.”

“Leia—”

“Is still living in the past, but you and I,  _ we’re _ the future. It doesn’t have to be what she fears. It can be what we make of it.”

He felt her indecision and in that moment, he did what he’d been longing to do since seeing her lying in the escape pod only hours—but a lifetime—ago. His hand reached out and cupped her jaw as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She gasped softly and froze as his mouth moved over hers. He felt her indecision, her innocence, and her desire.

Just as he was about to pull away, he felt it . . . the tentative return of his kiss.

It was everything and more. Kylo couldn’t stop himself from leaning in further and sinking his tongue inside her mouth, letting everything that he was flow into her. She was inexperienced—she’d never encountered such intimacy with anyone. But then, neither had he. 

Her hand was on his shoulder, and he felt her fingers dig into shirt as he pulled her closer. Kylo couldn’t seem to get enough of her, but there was a time and a place for everything and the open cockpit of a shuttle in the middle of a hangar bay was not either for this.

He reluctantly pulled away, his eyes taking in the way her dazed eyes and kiss-reddened lips called to him. 

“We can save them, Rey. I promise. Just follow me . . . alright?” he murmured close to her lips, his fingers running through the loose tresses of her hair.

Rey’s eyes fluttered as she struggled with own moral center and what she clearly  _ wanted. _

“Save them,” she finally whispered, meeting his eyes.

He allowed a smug smile to form. “I intend to.”


End file.
